Jesus said (John 14: 12) ‘I tell you the truth’
As followers of Jesus we too must tell the truth
Ephesians 4: 21 ‘you…have learned the truth that comes from Him (Jesus)’
Sadly, sometimes we don’t tell the truth, sometimes we tell lies
Ephesians 4: 25a ‘So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth’
Let’s move on now in our quest for the truth by identifying the lies that we tell
(Throughout these messages I will be using real life examples from my 30+ years of pastoral ministry – these situations happened a long time ago with people you do not know)
1/ we lie when we oppose the truth
God had told Adam and Eve that if they ate the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they would die
This is the truth – Genesis 2: 16-17
The devil convinced Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit by putting doubt in their minds about God’s Word
Genesis 3: 1 READ ‘Did God really say…’
While Adam and Eve were considering this suggestion (Genesis 3: 2-3), the devil told them an outright lie opposing the truth
Genesis 3: 4a ‘You won’t die’
Genesis 3: 6 ‘the woman was convinced…he ate it too.’
Adam and Eve became partners with the devil in opposing the truth
Adam and Eve became liars too – opposing the truth of God’s Word!
Genesis 3: 12-13
When we oppose the truth our life becomes a lie
Real Life example: God’s Word – the truth – is very clear that marriage, between a man and a woman, is the only place for a sexual relationship
1 Corinthians 7:2 ‘because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband’.
Many years ago an old man came to see me and said he was suicidal because a young girl in our Church was accusing him of sexually abusing her
I contacted the mother of the girl, who was also in our church, and asked her to bring her daughter, and together come see me about this issue
They did
The girl told me that she went to the old man’s home after school to drink beer with him, and it was on one of these occasions that he sexually assaulted her
Then the mother of the girl confessed to me that she was having an affair with the old man
I urged the mother to break off her relationship with the old man and stop her daughter from going to his home after school
After that, they never came back to our church and I never saw the old man again either!
What happened?
The mother and daughter were in our church, but they were living a lie!
Sadly, many Christians, throughout the Body of Christ, are living the same lie – they indulge in sexual immorality and turn up in Church on Sunday
And, even worse, they think that what they are doing is OK!
And, they explain it away, just like Adam and Eve did, by saying things like…
“Oh, I made a mistake, we only slept together once”
Let me say this:
Firstly, sleeping together was not a mistake – you deliberately did it
Secondly, there was no sleeping involved
Today, we are seeing an avalanche of immorality in the Church world-wide
The divorce rate amongst Christians is equal, possibly higher, than the divorce rate amongst non-Christians
Openly gay, lesbian and transvestite people are demanding inclusion in all areas of Church life
The post-modern (post-truth) churches allow all this in the ‘name’ of relevance, tolerance and equality
God calls it sin!
Dear friends, you know the truth, don’t doubt God’s Word, don’t oppose the truth, don’t lie, – tell the truth!
2/ we lie when we hide the truth
Genesis 3: 1-6
The devil’s lie to Adam and Eve was successful because he hide the truth under the false promise of great blessing
Genesis 3: 5 ‘you will be like God’
That sounds fantastic doesn’t it?!
There is a problem – it’s not true!
Sadly, even with good intentions, we use this lie too, we hide the truth when we witness to our unsaved friends and family
Real Life example: “Come to Jesus and your Life will be blessed”
“God will make your life better”
“God will heal you”
“You will prosper in your finances”
If someone makes a decision for Christ based on these promises of blessings – and, after some time goes by these promises don’t come true
The person will reject the Christian life saying “It’s not true – I didn’t get blessed as I was promised”
When we witness to our friends and family we need to tell them the right reason to be saved
We are sinners and deserving of God’s condemnation
Romans 3: 10-18
But, through Jesus death on the cross we are saved by believing in Him! Romans 3: 25a
Dear friends, don’t hide the truth under the promise of great blessings, don’t lie, – tell the truth!
revdotdavid 